Boise State’s win over Alabama State includes play that ‘shocked’ even coach Leon Rice
To anyone else, it might have sounded like an impossible task. For RJ Williams, it was the perfect form of motivation.
Boise State men’s basketball coach Leon Rice challenged Williams to get 15 rebounds against Alabama State, and the 6-foot-7 senior from Los Angeles did him one better.
Williams grabbed a career-high 16 boards to go with 12 points for his fourth double-double of the season in the Broncos’ 100-57 nonconference victory over the Hornets on Saturday at ExtraMile Arena.
“I took it personal. I took it to heart,” Williams said. “(Rice) wants me to be better at what I’m doing. … Every ball I saw, I just wanted to go get it, just make a statement and have something to prove all the time. No plays off, just go get it.”
While Williams cleaned up in the paint, junior guard Derrick Alston showed Alabama State no mercy. Three days after the Broncos’ disappointing loss at Tulsa in which he went just 3-for-11 from the field, Alston was a near-perfect 11-for-12 for a season-high 31 points against the Hornets. Alston’s only missed field goal came on his first attempt of the game, and he went 11-for-11 the rest of the way.
It was the third 30-point game of Alston’s career, and he also matched a career-best with six of Boise State’s 15 3-pointers.
“I was just out there playing, having fun trying to win,” Alston said. “... We were all playing really well together, so I think coming off a tough loss like (Tulsa), it was definitely good to kind of build some confidence, especially with the young guys, too.”
With a commanding lead well before halftime, Rice was able to play all 11 of his eligible Broncos, with nine of them recording two points or more. Senior guard Justinian Jessup made 5-of-10 from beyond the arc for 19 points, six rebounds, two steals and two assists, and Alex Hobbs (11 points) and Max Rice (10 points) gave the Broncos five players in double figures for scoring.
True freshman guard RayJ Dennis had perhaps the most impressive play of the game for the Broncos when he took his defender to the rack for a dunk with 11:37 left in the second half. Dennis finished with six points, four rebounds and three assists.
“Boy did that shock me. I don’t get shocked very often after all these years, but I was like, ‘What did he just do?’ ” Rice said. “I haven’t even seen him do that. I mean, he’s a sneaky athlete, but I haven’t seen him just drive down in the half court and dunk it on the whole team. That was impressive.”
Boise State (6-4, 1-1 MW) held Alabama State (1-9) without a field goal for a stretch of 6 minutes, 32 seconds while scoring 17 points to take a 25-point lead in the first half. Jessup capped a dominant opening 20 minutes for the Broncos by sinking his fourth 3-pointer of the game just before the buzzer for a 51-25 Boise State advantage going into the locker room. Boise State stretched that lead to as much as 47 points in the second half.
The Broncos now have more than a week off to prepare for the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic at Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu. Boise State opens the ESPN-sponsored tournament at 3 p.m. MT on Sunday, Dec. 22, against Georgia Tech. The game will be televised on ESPNU. Oregon transfer Abu Kigab is expected to make his Boise State debut against the Yellow Jackets.
If the Broncos defeat Georgia Tech, they’ll play the winner between Houston and Portland in a 5 p.m. MT matchup Monday, Dec. 23, on ESPN2. The other teams in the tournament are Ball State, Washington, UTEP and Hawaii. The championship game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. MT on Wednesday, Dec. 25, on ESPN2.
Women’s basketball: Christopher, Broncos lead nation in assists
Jayde Christopher’s 176 assists in 2018-19 were the second-most in a single season in Boise State history.
Christopher’s 7.91 assists-per-game average this season puts her on pace to shatter Yaiza Rodriguez’s record of 192, and the redshirt senior point guard is leading the nation in the process.
Through Thursday’s games, Christopher has dished out a nation-leading 87 assists. That’s 16 more assists than Oregon star Sabrina Ionescu, who sits in second place.
Christopher can pad that lead Sunday when the Broncos (7-4, 2-0 MW) face Eastern Washington (1-5) in a 2:05 p.m. MT nonconference game in Cheney, Washington.
“I feel like we need to talk about Jayde Christopher more. She’s amazing,” Boise State senior Riley Lupfer said. “I mean, leading the nation, that’s ridiculous. I feel like not enough people talk about that, and it says a lot about our program, too, about how unselfish we are.”
As a team, the Broncos are tied for the top mark in the country alongside DePaul with 203 assists. Boise State is the only program with two players who rank among the top 30 individually, as senior guard Braydey Hodgins is tied for 29th with 47 assists.
“I think they look out for each other, and I think they enjoy being together,” Boise State coach Gordy Presnell said. “The road trips are pretty fun, and we’ve had a lot of them already. ... They really enjoy competing together, and they’ve had a lot of success, too, so that adds to it.
“I guess if we hadn’t had any success maybe it wouldn’t be so much fun, but I think they’ve got a lot of dreams still ahead of them.”
Note: Boise State’s game at Eastern Washington will be streamed online by the Big Sky Conference, and can be heard on the radio at 1350 AM.
BOISE ST. 100, ALABAMA ST. 57
ALABAMA ST. (1-9)
Battle 2-3 1-1 5, Ewuosho 4-10 2-2 10, Heath 3-6 2-2 8, Stewart 2-9 0-0 5, Daniels 5-7 0-0 12, Stone 0-1 0-0 0, Ross 2-9 0-0 5, Holston 2-5 1-1 5, Rogers 1-6 0-0 2, Farrar 1-3 0-0 2, Hamilton 1-5 0-1 3. Totals 23-64 6-7 57.
BOISE ST. (6-4)
Dickinson 1-4 0-0 3, Alston 11-12 3-4 31, Hobbs 5-9 0-0 11, Jessup 7-13 0-0 19, Williams 2-6 8-10 12, Abercrombie 2-4 0-0 6, Jorch 1-2 0-0 2, Dennis 2-4 2-2 6, Huang 0-0 0-1 0, Berry 0-0 0-0 0, Rice 5-7 0-0 10. Totals 36-61 13-17 100.
Halftime — Boise St. 51-25. 3-Point Goals — Alabama St. 5-28 (Daniels 2-4, Hamilton 1-3, Ross 1-7, Stewart 1-7, Ewuosho 0-1, Heath 0-1, Farrar 0-2, Rogers 0-3), Boise St. 15-29 (Alston 6-7, Jessup 5-10, Abercrombie 2-3, Dickinson 1-3, Hobbs 1-3, Rice 0-1, Dennis 0-2). Fouled Out — None. Rebounds — Alabama St. 25 (Ewuosho 6), Boise St. 40 (Williams 16). Assists — Alabama St. 6 (Farrar, Stewart 2), Boise St. 18 (Alston, Hobbs 4). Total Fouls — Alabama St. 21, Boise St. 12. A — 3,478 (12,480).
This story was originally published December 14, 2019 at 6:03 PM.
